Batman — Australian Federal Election Results

Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30

Batman was won by David Feeney (Labor) at the 2016 federal election, with a margin of 1,853 votes over Alex Bhathal after preferences. This page covers every federal election in Batman from 1906 to 2016.

Australia uses instant-runoff (preferential) voting: voters rank candidates in order of preference, and if no one has a majority of first-preference votes, the lowest-placed candidate is eliminated and their votes redistributed to voters' next preference, repeating until one candidate has a majority. The "Winner" and "Margin" below reflect the final result after preferences (equivalent to the AEC's own two-candidate-preferred figure) — not simply whoever led on first preferences, which can occasionally be a different candidate.

Full Election History (After Preferences), 1906–2016

Election	Winner	Party	Final Votes	Final Share	Runner-up	Margin
1906	Jabez Coon	Prot	7,098	51.8%	Robert Solly (Labor)	481 (3.5 pts)
1910	Henry Beard	Labor	13,569	63.6%	Jabez Coon (Liberal)	5,804 (27.2 pts)
1913	Frank Brennan	Labor	19,268	64.9%	Frederick O'neill (Liberal)	8,870 (29.9 pts)
1914	Frank Brennan	Labor	-1	100.0%	None (None)	-1 (100.0 pts)
1917	Frank Brennan	Labor	18,868	60.9%	Frederick O'neill (National)	6,770 (21.9 pts)
1919	Frank Brennan	Labor	16,039	57.1%	William Spence (National)	3,975 (14.1 pts)
1922	Frank Brennan	Labor	14,042	66.2%	Martin Hannah (Independent)	6,868 (32.4 pts)
1925	Frank Brennan	Labor	32,427	59.0%	Samuel Dennis (National)	9,914 (18.0 pts)
1928	Frank Brennan	Labor	37,947	63.8%	Angus Mcdonald (National)	16,435 (27.6 pts)
1929	Frank Brennan	Labor	46,666	75.8%	Cecil Keeley (National)	31,775 (51.6 pts)
1931	Samuel Dennis	United Australia Party	31,393	50.8%	Frank Brennan (Labor)	961 (1.6 pts)
1934	Frank Brennan	Labor	36,910	56.1%	Samuel Dennis (United Australia Party)	8,064 (12.3 pts)
1937	Frank Brennan	Labor	36,439	63.4%	Albert Peters (United Australia Party)	15,426 (26.9 pts)
1940	Frank Brennan	Labor	35,636	59.7%	Albert Peters (United Australia Party)	11,554 (19.3 pts)
1943	Frank Brennan	Labor	42,073	75.5%	Arthur Mcadam (United Australia Party)	28,426 (51.0 pts)
1946	Frank Brennan	Labor	39,754	65.5%	John Mccoll (Liberal)	18,824 (31.0 pts)
1949	Alan Bird	Labor	22,662	58.4%	Neil Mckay (Liberal)	6,523 (16.8 pts)
1951	Alan Bird	Labor	23,335	60.6%	Frederick Capp (Liberal)	8,151 (21.2 pts)
1954	Alan Bird	Labor	21,250	59.1%	Neil Mckay (Liberal)	6,518 (18.1 pts)
1955	Alan Bird	Labor	22,146	51.7%	Frederick Capp (Liberal)	1,472 (3.4 pts)
1958	Alan Bird	Labor	21,902	60.3%	Frederick Capp (Liberal)	7,459 (20.5 pts)
1961	Alan Bird	Labor	22,831	64.2%	Bruce Skeggs (Liberal)	10,078 (28.3 pts)
1963	Sam Benson	Labor	20,682	50.9%	Bruce Skeggs (Liberal)	703 (1.7 pts)
1966	Sam Benson	Independent	22,342	57.8%	John Andersen (Labor)	6,021 (15.6 pts)
1969	Horace Garrick	Labor	28,117	53.0%	Peter Mcgrath (Liberal)	3,200 (6.0 pts)
1972	Horace Garrick	Labor	29,578	61.9%	Leon Bram (Liberal)	11,378 (23.8 pts)
1974	Horace Garrick	Labor	32,512	64.4%	Keith Smith (Liberal)	14,559 (28.8 pts)
1975	Horace Garrick	Labor	30,570	58.1%	Michael Galli (Liberal)	8,493 (16.1 pts)
1977	Brian Howe	Labor	35,581	53.4%	Gillford Brown (Liberal)	4,489 (6.7 pts)
1980	Brian Howe	Labor	37,065	64.1%	Rosemary Kemp (Liberal)	16,280 (28.1 pts)
1983	Brian Howe	Labor	42,398	68.8%	Maxwell Playford (Liberal)	23,205 (37.7 pts)
1984	Brian Howe	Labor	40,845	74.7%	Mark Hoysted (Liberal)	27,038 (49.5 pts)
1987	Brian Howe	Labor	40,041	72.8%	Ron Dunn (Liberal)	25,058 (45.5 pts)
1990	Brian Howe	Labor	44,754	67.4%	Ray Ellis (Liberal)	23,109 (34.8 pts)
1993	Brian Howe	Labor	52,200	73.4%	Mabel Thrupp (Liberal)	33,311 (46.9 pts)
1996	Martin Ferguson	Labor	54,637	71.3%	Wayne Youlten (Liberal)	32,658 (42.6 pts)
1998	Martin Ferguson	Labor	61,569	76.4%	Lauri Rowe (Liberal)	42,585 (52.9 pts)
2001	Martin Ferguson	Labor	59,478	75.1%	John Davies (Liberal)	39,736 (50.2 pts)
2004	Martin Ferguson	Labor	53,880	71.3%	Maxwell Gratton (Liberal)	32,216 (42.6 pts)
2007	Martin Ferguson	Labor	60,503	76.0%	Jonathan Peart (Liberal)	41,345 (51.9 pts)
2013	David Feeney	Labor	54,009	60.6%	Alexandra Bhathal (Greens)	18,904 (21.2 pts)
2016	David Feeney	Labor	45,977	51.0%	Alex Bhathal (Greens)	1,853 (2.1 pts)

First-Preference Result by Election

Every candidate's first-preference votes, before any preference redistribution.

1906

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Jabez Coon	Prot	7,098	50.0%
Robert Solly	Labor	6,617	46.6%
Samuel Painter	Independent	330	2.3%
Roy Vernon	Independent	151	1.1%

1910

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Henry Beard	Labor	13,569	63.6%
Jabez Coon	Liberal	7,765	36.4%

1913

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank Brennan	Labor	19,268	64.9%
Frederick O'neill	Liberal	10,398	35.1%

1914

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank Brennan	Labor	-1	100.0%

1917

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank Brennan	Labor	18,868	60.9%
Frederick O'neill	National	12,098	39.1%

1919

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank Brennan	Labor	16,039	57.1%
William Spence	National	12,064	42.9%

1922

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank Brennan	Labor	14,042	51.0%
Martin Hannah	Independent	7,174	26.1%
George Mackay	National	6,315	22.9%

1925

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank Brennan	Labor	32,427	59.0%
Samuel Dennis	National	22,513	41.0%

1928

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank Brennan	Labor	37,947	63.8%
Angus Mcdonald	National	21,512	36.2%

1929

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank Brennan	Labor	46,666	75.8%
Cecil Keeley	National	14,891	24.2%

1931

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Samuel Dennis	United Australia Party	30,148	48.8%
Frank Brennan	Labor	28,198	45.6%
Frank Blake	Independent	2,323	3.8%
James Hannan	Communist Party of Australia	1,156	1.9%

1934

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank Brennan	Labor	36,910	56.1%
Samuel Dennis	United Australia Party	28,846	43.9%

1937

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank Brennan	Labor	36,439	63.4%
Albert Peters	United Australia Party	21,013	36.6%

1940

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank Brennan	Labor	35,636	59.7%
Albert Peters	United Australia Party	24,082	40.3%

1943

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank Brennan	Labor	42,073	64.3%
Arthur Mcadam	United Australia Party	13,647	20.9%
George Malloch	SC	7,635	11.7%
Joseph Cahir	Independent	1,090	1.7%
Christina Debney	Independent	590	0.9%
Gordon Currie	Independent	380	0.6%

1946

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank Brennan	Labor	39,754	58.3%
John Mccoll	Liberal	20,930	30.7%
Allan Brennan	Independent	4,250	6.2%
George Oke	Communist Party of Australia	3,222	4.7%

1949

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Alan Bird	Labor	22,662	58.4%
Neil Mckay	Liberal	16,139	41.6%

1951

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Alan Bird	Labor	23,335	60.6%
Frederick Capp	Liberal	15,184	39.4%

1954

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Alan Bird	Labor	21,250	57.8%
Neil Mckay	Liberal	14,732	40.1%
Andrew Wallace	Communist Party of Australia	801	2.2%

1955

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Alan Bird	Labor	21,295	49.7%
Frederick Capp	Liberal	14,972	35.0%
Thomas Walsh	Labor (Anti-Communist)	6,553	15.3%

1958

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Alan Bird	Labor	21,902	51.5%
Frederick Capp	Liberal	14,443	33.9%
Thomas Walsh	Democratic Labor Party	6,205	14.6%

1961

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Alan Bird	Labor	22,831	54.9%
Bruce Skeggs	Liberal	12,753	30.7%
Maurice Keady	Democratic Labor Party	5,970	14.4%

1963

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Sam Benson	Labor	19,858	48.8%
Bruce Skeggs	Liberal	14,923	36.7%
John Little	Democratic Labor Party	5,880	14.5%

1966

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
John Andersen	Labor	14,859	38.4%
Bruce Skeggs	Liberal	10,398	26.9%
Sam Benson	Independent	8,697	22.5%
Henry Darroch	Democratic Labor Party	3,592	9.3%
Robert Desailly	LRG	1,117	2.9%

1969

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Horace Garrick	Labor	24,686	46.5%
Peter Mcgrath	Liberal	17,567	33.1%
Henry Darroch	Democratic Labor Party	7,776	14.7%
Ronald Hayles	Independent	3,005	5.7%

1972

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Horace Garrick	Labor	29,578	55.9%
Leon Bram	Liberal	18,200	34.4%
Henry Darroch	Democratic Labor Party	5,163	9.8%

1974

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Horace Garrick	Labor	32,512	57.1%
Keith Smith	Liberal	17,953	31.5%
Kevin Barry	Democratic Labor Party	5,018	8.8%
Geoffrey Loftus-Hills	AP	1,493	2.6%

1975

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Horace Garrick	Labor	30,570	53.8%
Michael Galli	Liberal	22,077	38.8%
Eileen Doyle	Democratic Labor Party	4,189	7.4%

1977

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Brian Howe	Labor	31,538	47.3%
Gillford Brown	Liberal	24,932	37.4%
Mario Piraino	Australian Democrats	6,644	10.0%
Phillip Lorenz	Democratic Labor Party	3,559	5.3%

1980

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Brian Howe	Labor	37,065	55.5%
Rosemary Kemp	Liberal	20,785	31.1%
Allen Doyle	Democratic Labor Party	4,945	7.4%
Jeffrey Mcalpine	Australian Democrats	4,002	6.0%

1983

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Brian Howe	Labor	42,398	63.7%
Maxwell Playford	Liberal	19,193	28.8%
Gwendoline Naug	Australian Democrats	2,836	4.3%
Philip L'huillier	Democratic Labor Party	1,756	2.6%
John Percy	Independent	380	0.6%

1984

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Brian Howe	Labor	39,128	71.6%
Mark Hoysted	Liberal	11,371	20.8%
James Cockell	Australian Democrats	2,338	4.3%
Philip L'huillier	Democratic Labor Party	1,836	3.4%

1987

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Brian Howe	Labor	35,285	64.0%
Ron Dunn	Liberal	13,408	24.3%
Jan Roberts	Australian Democrats	5,321	9.7%
Sue Phillips	Independent	632	1.1%
Darren Chapman	Independent	466	0.8%

1990

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Brian Howe	Labor	34,506	51.8%
Ray Ellis	Liberal	18,274	27.5%
George Gogas	Australian Democrats	8,574	12.9%
Alan Watts	Communist Party	3,950	5.9%
Nigel D'souza	Independent	1,250	1.9%

1993

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Brian Howe	Labor	47,974	67.5%
Mabel Thrupp	Liberal	17,503	24.6%
Geoff Carr	Australian Democrats	2,541	3.6%
Nigel D'souza	Independent	1,908	2.7%
Joan Dickens	Independent	708	1.0%
Gordana Simatkovich	Independent	490	0.7%

1996

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Martin Ferguson	Labor	45,491	58.8%
Wayne Youlten	Liberal	16,574	21.4%
Julie Peters	Australian Democrats	4,655	6.0%
Irene Bolger	Independent	3,976	5.1%
Frank Ryan	Greens	2,791	3.6%
Paul D'angelo	Independent	2,165	2.8%
George Koumantatakis	Independent	1,083	1.4%
Arthur Preketes	Independent	601	0.8%

1998

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Martin Ferguson	Labor	53,034	65.8%
Lauri Rowe	Liberal	16,290	20.2%
Mart Nicholls	Australian Democrats	4,036	5.0%
Helen Rosenbaum	Greens	3,705	4.6%
Martin Richardson	Independent	1,486	1.8%
Matt Wilson	Independent	1,087	1.3%
Sami Mazloum	Unity	659	0.8%
Wayne Barwick	Independent	254	0.3%

2001

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Martin Ferguson	Labor	46,506	58.7%
John Davies	Liberal	17,196	21.7%
Alexandra Bhathal	Greens	9,171	11.6%
Scott Kneebone	Australian Democrats	4,954	6.3%
Jackie Lynch	Independent	1,064	1.3%
Wayne Barwick	Independent	329	0.4%

2004

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Martin Ferguson	Labor	41,953	55.5%
Maxwell Gratton	Liberal	19,603	25.9%
Alexandra Bhathal	Greens	10,520	13.9%
Scott Kneebone	Australian Democrats	1,105	1.5%
Chris Ariaratnam	FFP	853	1.1%
Craig Bishop	Independent	708	0.9%
Graham Matthews	Socialist Alliance	430	0.6%
Peter Byrne	Independent	201	0.3%
Walter Mellado	CEC	171	0.2%

2007

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Martin Ferguson	Labor	45,551	57.2%
Jonathan Peart	Liberal	16,439	20.6%
Patricia Carey	Greens	13,674	17.2%
Peter Kerin	Family First	2,090	2.6%
Darren Hassan	Australian Democrats	1,619	2.0%
Robert Barwick	Independent	288	0.4%

2013

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
David Feeney	Labor	36,798	41.3%
Alexandra Bhathal	Greens	23,522	26.4%
George Souris	Liberal	20,017	22.5%
Lianna Sliwczynski	ASP	2,301	2.6%
Franco Guardini	Palmer United Party	2,253	2.5%
Rosemary Lavin	Independent	1,250	1.4%
Ken Smithies	Family First	1,126	1.3%
Pat Winterton	Independent	1,121	1.3%
Philip Sutton	Independent	726	0.8%

2016

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Alex Bhathal	Greens	32,645	36.2%
David Feeney	Labor	31,780	35.3%
George Souris	Liberal	17,924	19.9%
Joel Murray	ASP	2,317	2.6%
Phillip Sutton	Independent	1,509	1.7%
Caitlin Evans	AJP	1,503	1.7%
Elizabeth Syber	Independent	682	0.8%
Maurice Oldis	Independent	593	0.7%
Franco Guardini	Independent	480	0.5%
Geoffrey Cicuto	Independent	386	0.4%
Russell Hayward	Independent	282	0.3%

Margin Over Time

Final (after-preferences) winning margin, percentage points, coloured by the winning party.

Trend

Batman has been contested at 42 federal elections on record since 1906. Winning parties over that span: Prot, Labor, United Australia Party, Independent.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Batman in the 2016 federal election?

David Feeney (Labor) won Batman in 2016 after preferences, with 45,977 votes (51.0%) to Alex Bhathal's 44,124.

Which parties have won Batman since 1906?

Since 1906, Batman has been won by: Independent, Labor, Prot, United Australia Party.

What was the closest result in Batman?

The closest result on record for Batman was 1931, when Samuel Dennis (United Australia Party) beat Frank Brennan by 961 votes (1.6 percentage points) after preferences.